DETAILED ACTION
The Information Disclosure Statement filed on November 8, 2023 has been reviewed and considered by the Examiner.
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 1-6 and 14-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dipl-ing (EP 2423068 A1) in view of Auge (EP 0958984 A1).
Dipl-ing discloses a ground contact on a rail vehicle comprised of a ground contact 10 on a wheel set having an axle and wheels. The ground contact 10 is further comprised of a housing unit 12, a contact device 16 and a sensing device 24, the contact device having a contact piece 18 which is disposed on a contact surface of an axle, an electrical sliding contact 17 being formed between the contact surface and the contact piece. The ground contact comprises a measuring unit having a measuring device in the form of a rotary encoder 26. The sensor of the sensing device 24 of the measuring device 26 is disposed on the contact device and/or adjacent to the contact device. The device is further comprised of a signal cable to transmit signals to a vehicle control module.
Dipl-ing discloses the contact device as described above but does not specifically show the method of registering, processing or determining the parameters of the operation of the bogie. Auge discloses a measuring device 34 and detection assembly 50 in figure 7 and goes on to describe the methodology of measuring and monitoring the operation of the bogie. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have used a measuring and monitoring method, like that of Auge, and apply it to a ground contact system, like that of Dipl-ing, with the expected result of providing a method for the safe and efficient operation of the ground contact assembly on the railcar bogie.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7-13 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Robert J McCarry Jr. whose telephone number is (571)272-6683. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7:00-3:00.
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/Robert J McCarry Jr/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3615
RJM
January 23, 2026
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